Bicycle.



No. 667,432. Patented Feb. 5, [90L N. B. .FASSETT.

BICYCLE.

(Applicatiqn filed Mar. 19, 1898.)

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NELSON B. FASSETT, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, As'sIeNoE, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,TO B. A. FASSETT, OF SAME PLACE;

BICYCLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 667,432, dated February5, 1901.

Application filed March 19, 1898.

T ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NELSON B. EAssETT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ohicago, State of Illinois, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Riding-Supports for Bicycles; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making partof IO this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in riding-supports for bicycles,consisting of a safety attachment whereby the learner or rider may mountand ride a bicycle at leisure unaided and alone and without the dangerof lateral tilting, either when the bicycle is at rest or when carryinga rider.

To this end my invention consists,primarily, of two ground-wheels, oneon each side of the bicycle, adjacent to the rear wheel. The two wheelsare journaled to two arms, re spectively, which extend laterally anddownwardly and are held rigidly to the frame of the bicycle by means ofcertain novel forms of attaching-clips, which enable the operator toattach the supports to or detach them from a bicycle at will, ashereinafter more specifically set forth.

This supporting device is intended to be used on any of the usual makesof bicycles and may be attached or detached by the more use of a wrenchand screw-driver, requiring only a few minutes of time. It is intended,furthermore, for the use of beginners and others who are for some reasonunable to ride a bicycle without them.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a bicycle,showing that part of my bicycle-support which is attached to the nearside thereof, the other support being directly opposite, on theright-hand side of the wheel. Fig. 2 is a rear view of the same, showingthe two supports complete and the mode of fastening them to the frame ofthe bicycle, Fig. 3 is an enlarged View showing in detail the novelfeatures of my improved attaching-clips, their structure, and purposes,representing the mechanism shown from G to H in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is anenlarged View of the two halves of the attaching-clips, clamping at itsleft-hand end one of thesupport- Serial No. 6741549. (No model.)

ing-arms B and at the right-hand end clamping the bar 0 of the bicycle.Fig. 5 isan en-' larged transverse section of the hanger and the mode ofsecuring it to the lower rear fork of the bicycle. Fig. 6shows the modeof fastening the front ends of the two stay-rods to the lower end of thehanger.

In the drawings, A represents the usual form of a bicycle, and B and Bthe supporting-arms, attached to the diagonal bars 0 and C,respectively, of the rear upper fork of a bicycle-frame.

D and D are two stay-rods for preventing their respective arms B and Bfrom swinging around backward out of place.

v E, Figs. 1 and 6, is the hanger, to which the stay-rods are secured attheir forward ends.

F and F are two ground-wheels.

G and H and G and H are the four attaching-clips. Though similarin form,they differ in their location upon the bicycle frame. These clips areeach composed of two similar encircling parts or halves and are made toclamp firmly together in any relation required the supporting-arm B withthe diagonal bar 0 of the rear fork by means of small screws, as shownin Figs. 3 and 4. They are also provided with wings projecting upwardlyon the bars of the rear fork, their purpose being to increase thefriction and prevent the supportingarms from sliding upward when in use.

The hanger E is T--shaped, the upper horizontal portion being placedagainst the under side of the two horizontal bars L of the rear lowerfork, just in front of the driving-wheel, its long end droppingvertically below, as shown in Fig.1. Above the hanger and over the barsL is a clamping cross-piece m, through which passes a cap-screw ndownward into the upper part of the hanger, by means of which the latteris firmly secured to the lower fork. The lower end of the hanger has twoholes through it, one for each stay-rod, which is hooked to it at aninterlocking position, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 6, and whichwhen turned into its Working position, as shown by the solid lines,cannot become accidentally disengaged therefrom.

The stay-rod D (shown in Fig. 6) is for the right-hand side of thebicycle, the left-hand is only by preference for this convenient form ofconstruction that I have adopted this device for fastening the stay-rodsto the lower end of the hanger, as some other mode of fastening mightfulfil this purpose, and for this reason I do not wish to limit myselfto that specific mode of fastening.

The clips, it will be seen, are so connected I at one end to thesupporting-arm and at the other end to the diagonal bar of the rear forkthat the upper orstraight portion of the supporting-arms may be carriedaround either forward or backward in order to cause the ground-wheels torun in parallel lines. It often happens in different bicycles that thediagonal bars 0 and 0 do not always stand at the same angle with theground-line, and as a .consequence they do not always stand at the sameangle with the straight portion at the upper end of the supporting-armsthat is, not in the same diagonal plane, but in a sort of winding plane,causing the arm and bar to slightly cross each other. By holding theupper clip, Fig. 1, with one hand and turning the lower clip with theother hand one way or the other around the barO the two ground-wheelscan be made to assume a position parallel with the line of travel. Theseclips, it will be seen, have a radial movement of one hundred and eightydegrees from front to rear around their respective bars 0 and G, thuspermitting a backward movement of double the Working length of one clip,the

stay-rods being made longer or shorter to suit in either case.Furthermore, it should be noted that when moved half that distance, orninety degrees, they will stand out at right angles to the plane of thebicycle, thus throwing the supporting-arms a greater distance apart,equal to the aggregate length of the two clips, one on each side of thebicycle. Some of these adjustments act an important part in theadaptation of my invention to the difierent makes of bicycles.Especially is this trueas regards the ability to adjust thesupportingarms to bicycles having their rear forks standing at differentangles from that required for the straight portion of thesupporting-arms. The adjustable feature of the ground-wheels to agreater or less distance apart is also very important, for l havelearned by actual experience that nervous and comparatively helplesspersons in order to be more sure that the bicycle cannot tilt overrequire that the ground-Wheels be set much farther apart than do personsof greater strength of body and limb. It will be seen from the abovethat these clips allow of five distinct separate ad justments of thesupporting-armsviz., first,

an adjustment up and down the rear fork of the bicycle; second, anadjustment forward and backward; third, an adjustment nearer to or moreremote from each other; fourth, an adjustment that will cause thegroundwheels to run in parallel lines, and, fifth, an adjustment thatallows the upper or straight portion of the arms to be set at an anglethat may be equal to, greater, or less than the angleat which the rearfork sets with reference to the ground-line. may be made independentlyand without the aid of the stay-rods, and if the supporting parts aremade sufficiently strong the stayrods may in many cases be dispensedwith altogether, and hence I do not wish to make my invention of theadjustable clips and arms dependent upon the presence of the stayrods.

These supports when first attached toa bicycle are so adjusted that whenin use a wheel on one side only will touch the ground at a time, theother wheel being raised just high enough to miss the ground. Then asthe learner becomes familiar with them in this position he may loosenthe clips, raise the wheels a little higher from the ground, retightenthem, and then begin to learn how to balance himself, and-so on, fromtime to time,

he may raise the wheels until they are no longer necessary'for'balancing purposes,when they may be discarded altogether. Thisadjustable feature'ofthe arms separately up and down enabl'es'theu'iderto raise the lefthand-wh eel a little higher than the right-hand wheelin order to allow the bicycle to'assume a vertical position on theright-hand side of an ordinary boulevard-where the surface of the groundis a little sloping, being higher at the left-hand side of the bicyclethan it is at the right-hand side. For this purpose in practice it isnecessary to make the left-handsupport a little shorter than theright-hand support, so as to be of equal height-at their upper ends,though this difference in height and length is not shown in thedrawings.

l. Ina riding-support for bicycles,the combination of fourattaching-clips G, H, G and H, each clip being independently connectedto one of thebars of a bicycle-fork and adjustable both longitudinally.and circumferentially thereof,two laterally-and downwardly extendingarms each secured to two of said clips and adjustable thereinlongitudinally and circumferentially of itself and ground- Wheelscarried by said arms whereby the arms areadj ustable up and down forwardand backward nearer to and more remote from each other at the same timeallowingsaidgroundwheels to be set so as to revolve in parallel lineswhile portions of thearms may be set at the same or difierent anglefromthat of the fork of the bicycle, substantially as described.

2. In a riding-support for bicycles,thecombination of fourattaching-clips G, H, G, H,

All these adjustments each clip being independently connected to one ofthe bars of a bicycle-fork, and adjustable both longitudinally andcircumferentially thereof, two laterally and downwardly extending armseach secured to two of said clips and adjustable therein longitudinallyand circumferentially of itself, ground-wheels carried by said arms, andstay-rods connecting the lower ends of said arms with a part of thebicycle-frame, whereby the arms are adjustable up and down forward andbackward nearer to and more remote from each other at the same timeallowing said groundwheels to be set so as to revolve in parallel lineswhile portions of the arms may be set at the same or diflerent anglefrom that of the fork of the bicycle, substantially as described.

3. In a riding-support for bicycles,the com bination of attaching-clipseach independently secured to and angularly adjustable on one of thebars of the bicycle, laterally and downwardly extending wheel-supportingarms secured -to said clips and adjustable rotatably about their axes,wheels carried by said arms, and braces for holding said arms whenadjusted, whereby the arms can be adj usted up and down forward andbackward,

nearer to and more remote from each other at the same time allowing saidwheels to be set so as to revolve in parallel lines while portions ofthe arms may be set at the same or different angle from that of the forkof the bicycle, substantially as described.

4. In a riding-s11 pport for bicycles, the combination ofattaching-clips each independently secured to and adjustable angularlyand up and down on one of the bars of the bicycle, laterally anddownwardly extending NELSON B. FASSETT.

In presence of- Enw. A. SCRIBNER, C. M. BASSLER.

